Chamber and committees

The Scottish Executive actively encourages purchasers in its departments and executive agencies, and in non-departmental public bodies and National Health Service organisations in Scotland, to use the database of Constructionline registered companies when sourcing contractors and suppliers of professional services.The Scottish Executive Building Division acts as the focal point for these organisations in accessing the database on their behalf. As a result it is the largest user of Constructionline in the UK. The Scottish Executive is also taking steps to encourage and promote the use of Constructionline across the wider public sector in Scotland.

We do not hold the information requested centrally. I met the Haemophilia Society last month to hear the concerns of those affected and am considering the issues they raised. Once our enquiries are complete, I shall write to you with further information.

I am not persuaded at this stage that we should change the upper age limit for Children's Panel members. I will review this in the light of the current recruitment campaign. This was launched on 6 September and seeks to increase the number of male members.

The appointment of my colleague Iain Gray as Deputy Minister for Community Care covering both health and social work responsibilities is a clear signal that the Scottish Executive is giving the need for co-ordination and joint working a very high priority. We have also reorganised the Scottish Executive to bring responsiblities for both the social work and health aspects of community care into one division within the Health Department.The Action Plan: Modernising Community Care set out a range of ways for local agencies to improve co-ordination and in particular calls for more locality based working through local partnerships. To encourage implementation £5m was earmarked this year in incentive funding and we are monitoring progress. We will decide the level and distribution of the incentive fund for next year on the results of this.We plan to establish a single regulatory body to register and inspect residential and nursing homes, day care and home care.There is already some funding to pilot joint planning, funding and provision of community care. We are considering other possibilities, and ways of promoting joint training.

The table presents summary data on deaths from heart disease in those aged under 25, extracted from the Annual Reports of the Registrar General for Scotland for the years in question:

Deaths from heart disease, Scotland, 1996 -1998
Persons aged under 25
ICD9 Codes	Cause of death	1996	1997	1998
	DISEASES OF THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM - Heart Disease
390 - 392	Acute rheumatic fever	0	0	0
393 - 398	Chronic rheumatic heart disease	0	0	0
401 - 405	Hypertensive disease	0	0	2
410 - 414	Ischaemic heart disease	1	4	2
415 - 417	Diseases of pulmonary circulation	3	3	2
420 - 429	Other forms of heart disease	15	10	17
	CONGENITAL ANOMALIES
745 - 747	Congenital anomalies of theheart/circulatory system	60	54	55
Note:
Deaths are coded to the World Health Organisation's Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD9)

The UK National Screening Committee advises Health Ministers about policy on proposals for new national screening services. It has recently considered the case for screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and offered advice to all the UK Health Departments. The Scottish Executive is considering the implications of this advice, and I hope to make an announcement on the subject shortly.

A successful postal citation pilot has already been carried out in Ayr and Kilmarnock which has demonstrated that issuing citations by post can be effective. A more extensive pilot is being conducted in Glasgow to check that postal citation works satisfactorily also in a large urban area and to test a computerised citation system. Consideration will be given to the introduction of a postal citation system across Scotland as a whole once evaluation of the Glasgow pilot has been completed.

West Lothian Healthcare NHS Trust are carrying out this trial in three ward areas. The trial will be evaluated at the end of October and we therefore expect to be in receipt of a report from the Trust by the end of November 1999.

We will be in receipt of the trial report from West Lothian Healthcare Trust by the end of November 1999. We will consider the results of the trial and take advice on further action across the NHS in Scotland at that time.

The Scottish Executive is firmly committed to the Breast Screening Programme. At present, women aged 50-64 are invited every 3 years and women aged over 64 can attend on request, either through their General Practitioner or by calling their local breast screening centre.Scotland is participating in UK-wide demonstration projects to assess the implications of extending the upper age limit of invitation. The Scottish project has been undertaken in the West of Scotland and is due to report by the end of the year. The other UK sites will issue an interim report in January 2000. I await the findings of the projects.